Dexter in the Dark

I like Supernatural stories just as much as the next person. However when I am reading about Dexter I expect to read a thriller detective novel about a serial killer who is a blood spatter analyst, not a storyline that reads like something out of a Sci-Fi novel with fairies. Dexter is supposed to be based in the real world where Supernatural doesn't really exist or at least I thought so. So even though the storyline was interesting and I did finish reading the book it left something to be desired. Also, Dexter's sister had the personality of a kumquat, when she wasn't acting like an outright rabid dog. Still love Dexter but this book was deflating.

From the terrible reviews of this book, I almost skipped it. Most people seemed to be upset about the fact that there was some form of alien life form involved in this book and that was to far fetched. COME ON!!! This is fiction, a story about a cereal killer who does good. That's not far fetched? I liked the book. I wasn't the best one ever, but it wasn't bad.

Dexter is a lovable monster, and the saga continues in this book. Perhaps not as enjoyable as the first two, but I was not terribly disappointed in this one. The story line was quite different from the types of stories in the first two books, but this one was worth the read. I recommend reading the other two books first, though.

Throughout the book the suspense builds - then utter copout at the crucial moment. How the author thought that readers would appreciate this is beyond me; I'm assuming he was pressured to publish before he had a decent ending so he faked it. As a result he's lost some fans, so I hope it was worth it for him. If this had been the first book that I bought in the series, I wouldn't bother to buy more. As it is, if he continues the series, the next book of his I buy will be an elderly cheap paperback so that I don't waste my money again. This is the only time I've ever felt I prefer a TV show to the book, but from now on I'm sticking to Showtime for my Dexter fix.

Lindsay has made a wrong turn here. Monotonous and boring. One plot line unconvincing and not believable.
This effort crumbles when held up against the 1st 2 books. Maybe T.V. series is taking to much of his time.
I hope he bounces back. This character is too good.

Thoroughly enjoy the dialogue. Never bored, Jeff keeps up a great pace balancing Dexter's disguise and coordinating his Dark Passenger! I am so happy I started this series. Love the Showtime experience, appreciate and respect the books even more!!

Jeff Lindsey was definitely on to something when he invented the serial-killer-gone-vigilante in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, an entertaining if not quite polished twist on both the crime-murder mystery and the serial killer tale. But, he hit his stride with the excellent Dearly Devoted Dexter, a pitch-perfect novel of sarcasm and wit with plenty of blood and character development. It's unfortunate then, that he trips over Dexter in the Dark.

As we re-acquaint ourselves with the witty blood-letter, we find him beaten and bemused. Dexter has lost it, all he's got is homicidal step-kids, a $500 a head wedding caterer, a short-fused sister and a dearly dumb-witted fiancé, but no dark passenger.

Dexter spends the entire book castrated, unable to kill or even understand the homicidal impulse. Worse, he sets about training Astor and Cody to be just like him, a disturbing and overly coincidental plot element. In fact, it seems as if Lindsey wrote the entire novel to explain why damaged kids become lurid psychopaths. It doesn't work.

The plot here is as thin as the paper it's written on. The father of all Dark Passengers wants Dexter, the anomaly of serial killers gone. The feint whiff of the supernatural that we got in the first Dexter book is back in force this time and it's a mood killer. Dexter works best when it's him against a normal world, when the world becomes as twisted as him, it all gets foggy, like a bad LSD hit.

Lindsey also stumbles on his use of, count them, four narrations. We have first persons "It" being the thing that makes people kill, these parts are boring, over written and pointless. Then we have Dexter, thankfully for most of the book. There's also a third person narrating "the watcher" at the end of most, but not all chapters, and finally there is one, count it, one part of one chapter with a flat out third person "Lindsey" narration that is completely off tone with everything else. The book would be an amateur read if it wasn't that Lindsey had already established that he can write.

There little to offer here. Dexter mopes around, fails to figure out the crime, gets captured, barely manages to save the children and ends up married, that's all you get in 300 pages. It's decidedly distracting Dexter. The book is, if nothing else, the funniest of the three novels. Dexter may not kill, but his wit is sharper than ever and his observations keen and biting. The third Dexter book pales behind the second season of the Showtime series they spawned, Dexter on the Television is, for now, better than Dexter in print.

Jeff Lindsey was definitely on to something when he invented the serial-killer-gone-vigilante in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, an entertaining if not quite polished twist on both the crime-murder mystery and the serial killer tale. But, he hit his stride with the excellent Dearly Devoted Dexter, a pitch-perfect novel of sarcasm and wit with plenty of blood and character development. It's unfortunate then, that he trips over Dexter in the Dark.

As we re-acquaint ourselves with the witty blood-letter, we find him beaten and bemused. Dexter has lost it, all he's got is homicidal step-kids, a $500 a head wedding caterer, a short-fused sister and a dearly dumb-witted fiancé, but no dark passenger.

Dexter spends the entire book castrated, unable to kill or even understand the homicidal impulse. Worse, he sets about training Astor and Cody to be just like him, a disturbing and overly coincidental plot element. In fact, it seems as if Lindsey wrote the entire novel to explain why damaged kids become lurid psychopaths. It doesn't work.

The plot here is as thin as the paper it's written on. The father of all Dark Passengers wants Dexter, the anomaly of serial killers gone. The feint whiff of the supernatural that we got in the first Dexter book is back in force this time and it's a mood killer. Dexter works best when it's him against a normal world, when the world becomes as twisted as him, it all gets foggy, like a bad LSD hit.

Lindsey also stumbles on his use of, count them, four narrations. We have first persons "It" being the thing that makes people kill, these parts are boring, over written and pointless. Then we have Dexter, thankfully for most of the book. There's also a third person narrating "the watcher" at the end of most, but not all chapters, and finally there is one, count it, one part of one chapter with a flat out third person "Lindsey" narration that is completely off tone with everything else. The book would be an amateur read if it wasn't that Lindsey had already established that he can write.

There little to offer here. Dexter mopes around, fails to figure out the crime, gets captured, barely manages to save the children and ends up married, that's all you get in 300 pages. It's decidedly distracting Dexter. The book is, if nothing else, the funniest of the three novels. Dexter may not kill, but his wit is sharper than ever and his observations keen and biting. The third Dexter book pales behind the second season of the Showtime series they spawned, Dexter on the Television is, for now, better than Dexter in print.

Unlike those who complained bitterly about this 3rd edition in the travels of Dexter, I found the basis presented for Dexter's "inner demon" was solid, valid and well presented in this book. Especially for those who accept the Bible as literal truth, this tale should be a realistically valid premise for Dexter's behavioral underpinning, and add to the continued fascination of any Dexter aficionado. It is well conceived, well executed (NPI), and in my opinion another excellent romp in the deliciously twisted mind of Jeff Lindsay through his character "Dexter".

For my taste, it is nice to know where the critter hails from, because it makes the story more rich and the character more complete. I highly recommend this book as a necessary and well conceived stone on the path to knowing Dexter!

Like my title suggests this book (Dexter in the dark) was darkly sarcastic and funny in spots but missed the mark the first two in the series hit. Dearly devoted Dexter was (in my opinion) the best of the 3. It was full of action and chillingly funny sense of humor brought forth by interesting characters. The super natural twist was a little much and what can be said about Cody and Astor that has been griped about before. All in all a slow paced story with some ridiculous happenings. Next time, if there is a next time, maybe Mr. Lindsay will deliver me something a little more believable. It was just not as good as it could be.

The "Dexter" books are not for the squeemish. Dexter is a "dark" hero -- really a bad guy who does what he does for the greater good. Dexter works for the police department as a blood spatter expert (who hates bloody messes) and has a little hobby of killing off serial killers on the side. You may find yourself a little creeped-out by the fact that you like this guy (he is a serial-killer, after all!), but the books are entertaining. He's not as nice-seeming as portrayed in the television series -- maybe because the books are written in "first-person" so you are privy to all his thoughts. If you like your CSI series, but don't like the squeeky-clean detectives, then this could be for you.

For reasons I won't mention and that are integral to the plot, Dexter appears to be much milder in this book (no. 3 in the series). It is interesting but I didn't think the other characters were as fully drawn as in the first 2 books.

The first two Dexter books are two of my favorite books. They are the most innovative take on serial killer fiction I have ever read. Dexter's inner voice and Dark Passenger give a new view of the genre. I pre-ordered this book, anticipating more of the same. In "Dexter in the Dark", Lindsay takes the Dark Passenger out of the psychological and into the supernatural. The story is a painfully slow build to an anti-climax.

Damn shame. This killed the series for me.

If your going to read this book based on literary interest then i must stop you for this book doesn't contain anything besides plot twists and dexter fandom story lines, it has no relevance in any other media, and therefore SHOULD ONLY BE READ BY FANS.

I've found it fascinating to read the various reviews of this book.

As for myself, I first saw "Dexter" on TV, like most people have. It was suggested to me by a friend. I initially wasn't interested, but constant pressure led me to "try it out." And I was hooked.

I've read the first three Dexter novels, now. And truth be told, this is my favorite one of the book series so far. And probably for the exact same reason that so many of the other reviewers HATE it so desperately. That is... because it plays with the character of Dexter as not being an atheistic "anti-super-hero" like, evidently, so many of them would prefer him to be. Bluntly stated, it re-establishes that there is actual evil (and thus also actual good)... and yes, that Dexter has chosen a side, all his delusions of "code" aside.

It's remarkable the sheer level of hatred that some folks respond with if you even SUGGEST that there is such a thing as "the supernatural." Of course, "supernatural" is a bit of a misnomer anyway... anything that exists is, by definition, part of nature, and it's ludicrous to pretend that we already know everything that exists... ostrich-like head-burying at best and fatuous arrogance at worst.

This is a really interesting read... but just suggesting that there are actually "demons" (and worse, that they were "cast out" by SOMETHING "higher") is enough to drive the violently-anti-God people into apoplexy. ;)

So, in this book, we're told about a "spirit" who is "cast out" and is the most senior, perhaps even the "father" of many other similar "dark spirits" who "hitchhike" inside of people. Perhaps they can influence many people, but they only "hitchhike" with a certain type of person... someone who is actually open and receptive to taking on a "passenger." What sort of person is "open" to it? Well, sometimes, these are people who are damaged by traumas. And sometimes, they're people obsessed with absolute selfishness. Sometimes they're people with "perversions" of some type. Sometimes they're egotistic, arrogant types who feel that other people are beneath them. Yeah, lots of directly-derived Judeo-Christian theology to be found in there... and even a HINT of that will cause some folks to react with sheer unadulterated hatred, won't it?

Of course, this doesn't "ruin" Dexter. It doesn't mean that it's not Dexter who's done all this stuff... as he puts it, "the heavy lifting." It DOES work with the "Dexter as psychopath" part... it's not that he's a killer because of the "dark passenger," but rather, it's because he's a psychopath that the "dark passenger" sticks around and "plays" with him.

Lots of folks think that "possession" means having your skin turn funky colors, speaking latin backwards, and geiser-vomiting split-pea soup. Nahhh... that's just a hollywood fake-out. For people who really believe in this sort of thing, they don't envision goofy guys with goatees and pitchforks and red tights. Rather, the idea is of an incorporeal entity which (figuratively speaking) "sits on your shoulder" and whispers suggestions into the back of your mind. "Tempters" is how demons are normally described, after all... not "big scary monsters." And Dexter's "passenger" does exactly this, doesn't it? It whispers to him, encourages him, tells him things he might not otherwise know, and yes, "toys" with him. And he's happy to have it along for the ride, isn't he?

So... the author has made it clear... Dexter has a demon, riding along, "encouraging" him to continue in his "mission." And that particular demon, evidently a "lesser" one, is terrified of the higher, more powerful demons in the "hierarchy of hell."

That's the story the author is telling here. The "Villain" in this story is a "higher demon" called Moloch" (or "Molek?") who was "cast out" before mankind existed. And through this story, Dexter discovers that much of what has made him "powerful" was the assistance of Dexter's own possessor. Losing "the passenger" means that Dexter loses those advantages... his "superheroic powers"... and becomes, simply stated, a normal (if psychopathic) human. This makes the character MORE interesting... unless you're reading him as though he's actually a "superhero" (and it's clear that many of you DO see him... a mass-murderer... in that light, don't you?)

But by removing the "passenger," Dexter isn't "super-powerful" anymore... and much of this books tells us that he's still warped, sick and twisted... but also is now vulnerable to "human" mistakes, and even feelings (like fear) that he hasn't really experienced before. Just like the REAL psychopaths that exist in the world around us.

Dexter, as a more "human" character, is more interesting... and that's part of why I personally enjoyed this book MORE than I enjoyed the first two, and in some ways even more than the TV series (which I do agree is amazingly well-done). The person in the book... after the departure of the "passenger"... is someone who you can imagine actually meeting (but who you truly wouldn't want to meet!) Not the "imperturbable" smooth, perfect, creature from the first two books, or the "I can't really believe that this nice guy is also this evil guy" character who somehow the audience wants to hang out with, and who they sincerely LIKE, despite his murderous and sadistic behavior, from the TV series. Dexter isn't a "good guy," he's a villain. But like most villains, he thinks he's the hero. And when he's facing other villains, it's temptingly easy to be seduced by that argument, isn't it?

SO... this is a good book. It's not "high literature" but its good entertainment, and it's enjoyable to read unless you're the sort who finds any suggestion of anything "supernatural" to be the literary equivalent of a sharp pointy stick to the eye.

Love Dexter, first the Showtime series and now the books. Imagine my disappointment when my beloved seriel killer has a run-in with some spooky music and an ancient IT. Really? Kinda jumped the shark on this one.

I enjoyed the first two books, but this one completely jumped the shark. I expected an exciting Ice Truck Killer sort of showdown, but 2/3 of this book is Dexter brooding over his departed Dark Passenger. Imagine two friends. Friend A retreats to sulk in silece behind a locked door. Friend B stands outside the door and mopes. That dyamic is 2/3s of the book. It's got all the drama of watching paint dry. There's a showdown finally near the end, but it's only a handful of pages and feels rushed and anticlimactic.

I could get over that and put it down to a bad day in the writing neighborhood, if not for the peculiar introduction of elements worthy of a fourth rate horror movie. Dexter, whatever else he may be, is a scientist. This sudden turn into the pseudospiritual doesn't work. It diminishes Dexter by providing a mystical-based excuse for his actions instead of the actions rising from his own choices and nature.

I'm going to stick with the wonderful Showtime version of Dexter, and ignore the books from now on.

Just finished reading Dexter in the Dark and I must say that it may have been the most RETARDED book I have ever read. The first two were pretty good. This is unbelievably bad.

Questions I have...

-can Deborah say anything besides "Godda**it!"? Apparently not.

-are Astor and Cody the most ANNOYING child characters ever to grace the written page? Most definitely.

-can one book in a book/tv series completely wreck the whole premise? Absolutely.

I could write for hours on the specifics that make this book ridiculously bad but I don't want to spoil it for other potential sucker...er, readers out there. I will say though that the ending was an eye-roller of the tenth degree.

I all I can say is wow.

Best book yet in the Dexter series. tho there are many good storytellers on the best seller list, they are not all necessarily writers of great prose. This is far from the case with Jeff Lindsay.

All three of these Dexter novels read like a movie, but this, his most recent is tighter and even more polished than its predecessors. And THEY were exceptional.

Lindsay uses character and behavior to deconstruct and poke fun at society, pop culture, and human nature. Dexter is at once sympathetic and demonic, heroic and savage, diligent and utterly unredemable. Crack the cover of this book and there won't be a moment you are not hanging on his every word. I wished it had been 1000 pages longer. I've never read a funnier, gorier, more entertaining mystery. Ever.

After reading the first two books and enjoying them (especially Dearly Devoted Dexter) this book was a complete disappointment. The only reason I was able to make it to the end of the book was because of the novelty of pressing the page button on my newly purchased Kindle. I truly hope that the next book in the series gets back on track - ancient gods and demonic possession just don't fit into the Dexter universe that I've come to expect.

I loved the first two Dexter books, love the character and the ironic voice it is written in. However, though this is also a great, fun read, it is not quite up to the first two. But I would still say, for all of us who love Dexter, don't miss it, I can't wait to read what he does next